Tool for applying and removing receptacle closures



May 29, 1934. A. F. DRISCOLL 1,960,531

TOOL FOR APPLYING AND REMOVING RECEPTACLE CLOSURES Filed April 19. 1932wi 7 w hid ATTORNEY Patented May 29, 1934 TOOL FOR APPLYING AND REMOVINGREUEPTACLE CLOSURES Anthony Driscoll, Long Island, N. Y. ApplicationApril 19, 1932, Serial No. 606,260 4 Claims. (01. 813.1)

This invention relates to a tool for applying and removing receptacleclosures.

While the tool is particularly adapted for hand use, it nevertheless isreadily usable for machine 5 operation when desired.

An object of the invention is to provide a tool of the characterindicated which will be simple, durable, substantial and inexpensive tomanufacture, and which will be readily adaptable for ap- 0 plying andremoving screw type receptacle closures of a wide variety of sizes.

A further and more detailed object is to provide a tool as indicated andwhich will include a resilient closure engaging portion so as to providea strong grip upon the closure without likelihood of injury to thesurface of the closure.

A further object is to provide a tool as indicated and which may beformed either wholly orpartly of resilient material such as rubbercomposition.

- A further object is to provide a tool as indicated and in which theresilient closure engaging portion, when formed separate from theremainder of the tool, is easily and efiiciently connected with saidremainder of the tool and so that said resilient portion may be readilyremoved and renewed at will.

A further and more detailed object is to provide a tool as indicatedincluding a main body portion of relatively stiff and hard materialshaped exteriorly to provide a hand grip, and a separately formedclosure engaging portion made of resilient material adapted to beattached to or removed from operative position within the main portion,and to provide said main portion and said separate resilient portionwith mating configurations of a character releasably interengageable tohold the two portions assembled in operative relationship and yetpermitting their easy disassembly at will.

Other objects and aims of the invention, more or less specific thanthose referred to above, will be in part obvious and in part pointed outin the course of the following description of the elements,combinations, arrangements of parts and applications of principlesconstituting the invention; and the scope of protection contemplatedwill be indicated in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawing which is to be taken as a part of thisspecification, and in which I have shown merely a preferred form ofembodiment of the invention:--

Fig. 1 is a transverse sectional view through a tool constructed inaccordance with this invention.

Fig. 2 is'a similar sectional view of the main or hand grip portion ofthe tool as it appears without the resilient closure engaging. portion.

Fig. 3 is a similar sectional view, partly in elevation, of theseparately formed closure engaging portion as it appears removed fromthe main portion.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view similar to Fig. 1 but illustrating a modifiedform in which the entire structure is constructed as a single integralmolded element, and

Fig. 5 is a top plan view of the structure appearing in Fig. 4.

Referring to the drawing for describing in dey tail the structure asillustrated therein, and referring first to the invention as illustratedin Figs.

1 to 3, the reference character L indicates the main body portionwhilethe reference character G indicates the separately formed closureengaging portion.

The body portion L is formed preferably from arelatively hard stiffmaterial such as wood, hard rubber, bakelite or the like, while theclosure engaging portion is formed of a relatively softer and moreresilient material, such as rubber or rubber composition.

The body portion L is shaped exteriorly so as to be adapted for fittinginto an operator's hand and is preferably provided with an undulating orcorrugated or otherwise roughened annular surface portion as 1 suitableto provide a good frictional grip of an operator's hand upon said bodyportion during the operation of rotating the tool to apply or remove areceptacle closure.

Interiorly the body L is formed with a cavity 2 preferably of a generalfrusto-conical shape larger at the lower end of the tool and tapering tosmaller diameter at the upper or inner end. Spaced apart at the lower orlarger end of the cavity 2 the annular wall thereof is provided with aseries of lugs as 3 which project inwardly of the cavity and each ofwhich is shaped to provide opposite side shoulders as 44 extendingvertically of the cavity and a horizontal shoulder 5 at the upper end ofthe lug facing toward the upper end of the cavity.

At the upper end of the cavity the top wall as 6 thereof is formed witha rectangular recess 7 upwardly thereinto, and a screw socket as 8 comtinuing centrally upwardly from said recess.

One or more pendant lugs as 99 may also be provided projectingdownwardly from said wall 6.

The separately formed closure engaging portion G is of a generalfrusto-conical shape and is formed exteriorly of a size and contour tofit closely into the cavity 2 of the body portion.

At its outer surface the portion G, adjacent its lower larger end, isprovided with a series of spaced seats or recesses as 10 said recessesbeing 'abut the shoulders 4--4 of the lug 3 so as to positively opposeinter-rotation of the member G within said cavity 2, and a horizontalshoulder 12 at its upper end facing downwardly of the member G adaptedto abut the shoulder 5 of the lug 3 so as to positively oppose downwardmovement of the member G out of the cavity 2 after said member has oncebeen inserted into said cavity.

At the upper end of the member G the top wall 12 thereof is formed withan upwardly projecting rectangular extension 14 of a size and contour tomatingly fit into the recess 7 of the body L so as to thereby positivelyoppose inter-rotation of the member G within the cavity 2, and said topwall, 13 may also be provided with a series of small seats as 15arranged and disposed to matingly receive the lugs 9 of the member L tofurther retain themembers L and G against the possibility of rotarymovement with respect to each other.

The member G is sufliciently flexible so that in assembling it with thebody L said member G may be suitably flexed or temporarily distorted toenable the recesses 10 to be: moved into their operative relationshipover the lugs 3. As soon as the recesses are brought into register withtheir respective lugs the resiliency of the member G will cause themember G to spring relatively outwardly so that the lugs will beaccommodated within the recesses and thereafter the parts will bereleasably held in their co-operative mating relationship the shoulders4 and 5 of all of the.

lugs abutting the shoulders 11 and 12 of all of the recesses to hold themember G against rotary movement with respect to the body L and alsohold it against accidental detachment downwardly out of the body L.

Itwill be understood of course that as the member G is inserted into thecavity of the body L preparatory to engaging the recesses 10 over thelugs 3 the extension 14 at the upper end of member G will engage withinthe recess 7 of body L and the lugs 9 of body L will engage within theseats 15 of member G to further hold the two members against undesirablemovement with respect to each other.

Interiorly, the member G is formed with a frusto-conical cavity 16larger at the lower end of member G and tapering to smaller dimensionsupwardly within said member and the annular walls of said cavity arepreferably formed with corrugations 1'7 as integral molded parts of thesame flexible resilient material as the member G said corrugationsextending in a general vertical direction along the Walls of the cavity16 and constituting the intermediate means for engagement with areceptacle closure, in the manner as indicated by the dotted lineillustration 18 in Fig. 1, a relatively large closure being engageableby the corrugations at a point relatively near to ihe lower end of thecavity 16 while a relatively naller closure will engage the corrugationsrelatively nearer to the upper end of cavity 16.

It is intended that the material from which the member G is formed shallbe sufficiently flexible and resilient so that it will yield to acertain desirable extent in a circular or rotary direction when force isbeing applied to attach or remove a receptacle closure. The intermediateportion of the member G, that is the portion in the region between thehorizontal planes of the lugs 3 and the lugs 9 being particularlysusceptible to this rotary movement in operation due to the fact that itis not directly connected with the body member -L but only indirectlyconnected with said member L through the medium of the lugs 3 and 9above and below it. This region, indicated generally by the referencecharacter 19 in Fig. 1, has its interior cavity portion 16 of a sizewhich will be most generally used in practice, that is to say that themajority of receptacle closures attached or removed by the tool will beof a size to engage the member G in this region.

The resiliency and flexibility of the member G, and particularly of thatportion in region 19, by enabling it to be distorted in a rotativedirection as mentioned,- will enable it to more closely hug thereceptacle closure being operated upon,

and the greater the pressure or force applied by the operator thegreater will be the distortion and the flexing of the material of themember G about the engaging portions of the closure, and the consequentgrip of the member G upon the closure.

If desired a suitable retaining device as 20 may be employed to morepositively lock the members L and G together, and to this end thedrawing suggests the use of an ordinary screw for this purpose extendingthrough an opening 21 in the top wall of the member G and having itsthreads engaging within the screw socket 8 of the body.

Whenever it is desired to remove the member G from within the body L, asfor instance when the member.G has become worn or weakened due toexcessive use, said member G may be readily removed by merely flexingthe annular wall thereof to disengage the shoulders 5 and 12 whereuponthe member G will be free to fall out of the body member, the retainingscrew 20, if present, having of course been previously removed. A newclosure engaging portion G may be easily inserted, as hereinabovementioned, to replace the removed one.

The modificat' n Fig. 4 proposes that if desired the tool may, ins ad ofbeing formed with only a single receptacle engaging cavity as 22,corresponding with the cavity 16 of the previous figures, said tool maybe formed with additional closure receiving cavities as 23, 24, 25, 26and 27.

or the entire structure may be formed as a single integral molded unitof suitably resilient material such as rubber or rubber composition, asindicated in Figs. 4 and 5, the outer annular surface being molded toinclude the corrugated surface portion 1, and the lower and uppersurface portions being formed with the various cavities approximately asindicated.

Concerning the structure Figs. 4 and 5 it is important to note that dueto the resilient flexibility of the structure in its entirety theoperator, by squeezing or stretching said structure in a chosendirection, may suitably distort a selected one of the closure engagingcavities so as to cause the walls of said cavity to very tightly engagea stubborn receptacle closure, and then in the operation of applying orremoving said closure may by applying finger pressure against the toolfurther distort the tool to force the walls of the given cavity tighteragainst the receptacle closure to a degree dependent upon the strengthof his fingers. Hence a very powerful force may be brought to bearagainstthe closure for applying or removing it as the case may be. Afterthe operation has been completed the tool may be easily disconnectedfrom the closure by manual distortion of the tool to flex it out of itsbinding engagement with the closure.

As many changes could-be made in this construction without departingfrom the scope of the invention, as defined in the following claims, itis intended that all matter contained in the above description, or shownin the accompanying drawing, shall be interpreted as illustrative onlyand not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:-

1. A tool of the type indicated including a relatively rigid bodyportion and a closure engaging portion formed of relatively resilientmaterial, the body portion having a cavity therein opening through thebottom end thereof, the closure engaging portion being formed separatefrom the body portion and being positioned within the cavity of the bodyportion, and said body portion and said closure engaging portion havingparts cooperative to interengage with each other adjacent the upper endof said cavity for retaining said portions against relative rotarymovement, and said body and closure engaging portions having other partsco-operative to interengage with each other adjacent the lower end ofthe cavity to hold said first mentioned parts in operative assembly.

2. A tool of the type indicated including a relatively rigid bodyportion and a closure engaging portion formed of relatively resilientmaterial, the body portion having a cavity therein opening through thebottom end thereof, the closure engaging portion being formed separatefrom the body portion and being positioned within the cavity of the bodyportion, and said body portion and said closure engaging portion havingparts cooperative to interengage with each other adjacent the upperendof said cavity for retaining said portions against relative rotarymovement, and said body and closure engaging portions having other partsco-operative to interengage with each other adjacent the lower end ofthe cavity also for retaining said portions against relative rotarymovement and for holding said first mentioned parts in operativeassembly.

3. A tool of the type indicated including a relatively rigid bodyportion and a closure engaging portion formed of relatively resilientmaterial, the body portion having a cavity therein opening through thebottom end thereof, the closure engaging portion being formed separatefrom the body portion and being positioned within the cavity of the bodyportion, and said body portion and said closure engaging portion havingparts cooperative to interengage with each other adjacent the upper endof said cavity for retaining said portions against relative rotarymovement, and said body and closure engaging portions having other partsco-operative to interengage with each other and to utilize theresiliency of the closure engaging portion to hold said two portionsreleasably assembled.

4. A tool of the type indicated including a relatively rigid bodyportion and a closure engaging portion formed of relatively resilientmaterial, the body portion having a cavity therein opening through thebottom end thereof, the closure engaging portion being formed separatefrom the body portion and being positioned within the cavity of the bodyportion, and said body portion and said closure engaging portion havingparts co-operative to interengage with each other for retaining saidportions against relative rotary movement, and said body and closureengaging portions having other parts co-operative to interengage witheach other to hold said first mentioned parts in operative assembly.

ANTHONY F. DRISCOLL.

